In addition to living together in an apartment in the
countryside surrounding Madrid, the four students worked in the
Nanoengineering
Thermoelectrics Laboratory at IMM. Alongside students and
researchers from Spain and other countries, they worked to
advance and optimize new procedures for manufacturing
thermoelectric materials. These materials, which generate
electricity when heat flows through them, could play a role in
the development of next-generation clean energy
technologies.

Beyond the challenge and rigor of scientific research, the
students experienced the nuances of living and working in
another culture.

“Working in the lab in Madrid was just a completely
different experience,” said Michelle Decepida, a junior in the
Department of Mechanical,
Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) at Rensselaer.
“The work habits seem very relaxed there, but in a way that is
maybe more efficient, and very serious and competitive. It was
very interesting.” She said the language among the research
group at IMM was a combination of Spanish and English.

“We were always together. We’d eat lunch together every day,
and afterwards we would always go down to have a coffee break
together. The group dynamic is very important, so no one is
really ever on their own. It’s a really nice thing that is
engrained in the culture there,” Rojas said.

The other students who participated in the fellowship were
Eduardo Castillo and John Oxaal, both doctoral candidates in
MANE at Rensselaer. Prior to their trip, three of the students
took a semester-long independent study with
Diana Borca-Tasciuc, the project leader, or her
collaborator and husband,
Theodorian Borca-Tasciuc, both associate professors in MANE
at Rensselaer. The students learned experimental techniques and
theoretical aspects relevant to the projects carried out in
Madrid.

“Along with living in Spain and learning about another
culture, these students were performing leading-edge research
that could have important applications in nanomanufacturing and
energy conversion,” Diana Borca-Tasciuc said. “Their trip to
Madrid was challenging, productive, educational, and — from
listening to them — a lot of fun. I think they’ll remember it
for the rest of their lives.”

Bismuth telluride is a promising thermoelectric material.
While at IMM, the students worked to develop a procedure for
producing high-quality films of bismuth telluride on a silicon
substrate using a process called pulsed electrodeposition.
Their second goal was to design and install experimental
equipment to measure how efficient the thin films are in
converting heat to electricity. Measuring the conversion
efficiency of large quantities of materials is a common
procedure, but it is still quite challenging to perform the
measurements on thin films measuring only hundreds of
nanometers thick.

The four Rensselaer students arrived at IMM in July, and
returned home in August. During their time in Spain, they
traveled on the weekends. One lesson they learned early on was
about round-trip bus tickets, which are sold not at bus
stations but at tobacco shops. Along with exploring Madrid,
they made time to travel around Spain. One particular
highlight, Oxaal said, was their visit to the famous San Fermin
festival in Pamplona — the annual spectacle where some brave
souls “run with the bulls” down the city’s streets.

“We learned a lot about the Spanish culture during our
stay,” Oxaal said. “The researchers at IMM were all graduate
students or post-docs. Everyone, and especially our overseas
research adviser and host, Dr. Marisol Martin-Gonzalez, was
very welcoming and helpful, making our stay extremely enjoyable
and instructional. We became fast friends and found ourselves
wishing we could stay longer.”

In 2009, the Institute launched its Rensselaer
Education Across Cultural Horizons (REACH) as an exchange
program for engineering students. REACH has since evolved to
include all international opportunities for undergraduates,
including semester-long study abroad and exchange
opportunities, short-term and faculty-led international
programs, and other international experiences such as
internships and service learning. Today, all students are
encouraged and expected to take advantage of some sort of
international experience during their four-year undergraduate
education.

“Every Rensselaer student — whether an engineer, scientist,
architect, artist, scholar, or manager — can benefit from
studying abroad, participating in an overseas internship, or
some other international experience,” said Prabhat
Hajela, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education.
“The benefit is too great to ignore.”

For more information on Diana Borca-Tasciuc’s research at
Rensselaer, visit: